Town Hall News

By Aftab Ahmed and Swati Bhat NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) – India and Russia have suspended efforts to settle bilateral trade in rupees, after months of negotiations failed to convince Moscow to keep rupees in its coffers, two Indian government officials and a source with direct knowledge of the matter said. This would be a major setback for Indian importers of cheap oil and coal from Russia who were awaiting a […]

BEIJING (Reuters) – China firmly opposes any country citing bilateral treaties to interfere in the South China Sea and undermine China’s territorial interests and rights, the foreign ministry said on Thursday. “The South China Sea is home to all regional countries, and should not be a hunting ground for external forces,” ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular briefing when asked about a U.S. move to reaffirm its decades-old security […]

PRAGUE (Reuters) – Eight people who were most likely homeless were killed after a fire broke out on Wednesday night in construction containers in the Czech city of Brno, police said on Thursday. The fire engulfed around 12 containers on the edge of an apartment complex before being extinguished by early morning, Czech TV reported. Police said on a statement on Twitter they had not yet determined the cause of […]

By Aftab Ahmed and Swati Bhat NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) – India and Russia have suspended efforts to settle bilateral trade in rupees, after months of negotiations failed to convince Moscow to keep rupees in its coffers, two Indian government officials and a source with direct knowledge of the matter said. This would be a major setback for Indian importers of cheap oil and coal from Russia who were awaiting a […]

(Reuters) – Russia accused Ukraine of a failed attempt to assassinate President Putin in a drone attack on the Kremlin, and threatened to retaliate. Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said Kyiv had nothing to do with the reported attack. FIGHTING * Zelenskiy said Ukraine would launch a counteroffensive soon against occupying Russian forces. * Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russia’s Wagner Group mercenary force, said the counteroffensive had already begun and his forces […]

By Crispian Balmer ROME (Reuters) – Italy is highly unlikely to renew its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) deal with China, which expires early next year, but needs time to discuss the issue with Beijing, a senior government official said. The official, who has knowledge of internal discussions over the matter, said a formal decision would not be made ahead of this month’s Group of Seven summit in Japan, adding […]

By Matteo Allievi and Victor Goury-Laffont (Reuters) – French IT consulting group Capgemini on Thursday reported weaker revenue growth in the first quarter of 2023, compared with the year-ago period, citing a tense economic environment with clients adopting a “wait-and-watch stance”. Still, the company’s quarterly revenue reached 5.73 billion euros ($6.35 billion), 10.9% above the first three months in 2022. Cloud services for years have been one of the largest […]

(Reuters) – Liam Livingstone said he was finally shaking off the rust following his return from injury after the England all-rounder cracked an unbeaten 82 for Punjab Kings in their six-wicket loss to Mumbai in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Wednesday. The 29-year-old was sidelined for nearly five months after sustaining a knee injury on his test debut against Pakistan in Rawalpindi late last year and only returned to […]

By Khalid Abdelaziz KHARTOUM (Reuters) -Fierce fighting could be heard in central Khartoum on Thursday as the army tried to push back the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from areas around the presidential palace and army headquarters, with a lasting ceasefire appearing elusive. Each side appears to be battling for control of territory in the capital ahead of any possible negotiations, though the leaders of both factions have shown little […]